http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html The mysoftballcoach Fastpitch Softball Blog keeps you up-to-date with all additions and changes to the Mysoftballcoach.com Web site. Subscribe here. en-us fastpitch softball Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:12:54 GMT Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:12:54 GMT mysoftballcoach.com http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#The-Incident Hi coach: I am writing to let you know of an incident at the Lower Mainland Peewee Regionals today with one of our pitchers. We were facing a team with very big girls and composite bats. Our pitcher threw a beauty pitch which the batter connected with in the sweet spot. I was at first base and could not even see the ball come off the bat it was moving so fast. All I heard was the "Pock" of the bat and then our pitcher falling backwards. The ball hit her square on the chin. FORTUNATELY, she could not find the mouth guard she usually wears to protect her braces top and bottom, so I got her to wear my daughter's game face. The ball hit our pitcher so hard that it took the game face right off of her and sent it flying in the air about 8 feet from where she was standing. In the end, our pitcher ended up with a slightly bruised lower lip (the game face compressed so much so fast it managed to push her lower lip into her lower braces). This was by far the scariest incident I have ever witnessed. I have watched the scary "pitcher gets hit in the face" videos on Youtube, and can assure you that this was as bad as anything on there. If our pitcher had not had that game face on, she would have no doubt been hospitalized, concussed, and likely had to have major dental work. Probably a broken jaw on top of it. This is no exaggeration. EVERYONE that witnessed it was upset and concerned, and then absolutely marveled at what trauma the game face had saved. The game face itself was inspected by the umpire who had never seen an incident that vicious before, and he was shocked to find that the game face only had a circle of dust where the ball hit her, and no structural damage. After taking 2 innings to recover from a shock response, she was able to continue playing for the rest of the day -- with a full smile. Having now witnessed "the incident" that we all dread, and just by dumb luck (the missing mouth guard would have done nothing to protect her) not had to deal with myriad negative repercussions, I am fully convinced that all coaches need to have their pitchers wear Game Faces. Regards, Robert North Langley Diamond Sports For more info on the game face please click this link or copy and paste into your browser. http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/game-face.html Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:51:44 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Viewer-Mail---Coach-Tim's-Success-Story Hi, My name is Tim and my wife found your site sometime last fall and started reading away. Because of your help we took a fall team that consisted of 5 - 8 year olds and 5- 9 years olds who had never played 10 u much less girl pitch.....we ended up going 8 & 2 and the only team that beat us was a team that in the spring was moving up to 12 u and both games were close. This spring we played league ball, I got some girls that I wanted and some I didn't know, along with some first timers that had never seen the ball.....we taught them small ball and used a lot of your drills and went 13 and 2 getting second in our league and 3rd in our district.......we scored 202 runs and had 94 runs scored on us the whole seasons including district.....we really appreciate all your help and will implement more next season, a lot of these girls, 6 to be exact, including my daughter are now going to be playing on a select team for a high school coach!! Just wanted to give credit where credit is due, so thanks! I wanted to tell you one more thing, the high school coach saw the district tournament and told me that even though we got third that we had the he thought we had the best coached team there and our girls knew what to do with the ball and he is a firm believer in small ball. Just made me feel good but again this is thanks to you. Thanks again, Coach Tim Spit Fire 2000 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:54:48 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/bunting.html If you really want to have a successful softball team, you must be able to play the bunting game on offense and defense. Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:39:15 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Schaumburg-Illinois Hey Coaches. I've been sent to Schaumburg Illinois through this weekend for work. I would love to get out and watch some Illinois style softball this weekend. Somebody send me an email of a game being played this Saturday and maybe I can stop by and watch. Be sure to include an address for the fields (so I can find you on the Garmin), a game time, and a team name and colors. Email to coach@mysoftballcoach.com By the way, I love a good concession stand with either nachos or frito pie. Coach. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:53:12 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/jugs-pitching-machine.html Jugs pitching machine review and Jugs Jr. Batting practice, Outfield practice, are your ready to go to the next level? Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:47:00 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Coach-Rob,-CHAA-X-treme-Eagles,-8U,-Georgia I love emails like this one: Coach, I just wanted to say thank you for ALL your tips and techniques!! We just finished our spring rec season with a 12-0 record! I tried to incorporate everything, from placement of the players, to the batting order, to some of the drills. It worked! Based on previous seasons and the draft, I knew we did not have the strongest bats, but they were consistent throughout the order. By the second game, even my 1st year girls were hitting on a regular basis. I was most proud of our defense, 11 of the 12 wins were run rules, and 5 games we allowed 0 runs! A tough feat in Pee Wee. All Stars start next week, and I plan on continuing with the same game plan! Thanks Again, Coach Rob Tue, 11 May 2010 11:54:32 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/ground-ball-technique.html Using Correct Ground Ball Technique will aide in Eliminating Fielding Errors and is a sure way of Eliminating LOSSES. Wed, 05 May 2010 09:49:41 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/softball-field.html Can't find a good softball field to practice on? Here is the solution and it perfect for practicing fastpitch drills. Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:34:13 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Miken-Icon-Update I just wanted to give you a quick Bat review/update. As you know, I am a HUGE fan of Miken bats. So this year for Christmas I got my oldest daughter a new Miken Icon bat. She started out the season batting 6th on her team and has now moved up to 4th in the line up. Last week she had an inside the park home run and a stand up triple. Now, it's impossible for me to say that it's due to the bat. I mean, you still have to have a nice swing and you have to hit the middle of the ball. So I'll just say, I have been very, very pleased with her hitting and with her new Miken. The Miken Icon is normally $279 but Amazon has them priced at just $144. Here is the link to my shopping page: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/shopping.html, then scroll down to the bottom of the page for the direct Amazon link. Go Get 'Em!!! Coach Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:33:32 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Q&A,-Covering-the-Base---Positioning Q) I'm coaching 10U girls fastpitch and this is my first time coaching. I was wondering what's the best way to show them on how to cover their base. What foot should be on the bag, where they should position themselves for catching the ball & tagging out the runner. Anything you might could tell me would help me greatly. A) The rule of thumb on positioning yourself on the base is to take the corner of the bag that is closest to where the ball is being thrown from. This makes for a shorter throw and keeps the runner from coming between the ball and the fielder. Catch the ball and tag back to the base. 1st Base: Generally the 1st baseman will put her foot on the corner of the base closest to pitchers mound. Whatever hand she catches with, she should put her opposite foot on the base. If she is right-handed (catches with her left hand) she will put her right foot on the corner of the base. This allows her to stretch farther to catch the ball. A Shortstop taking a throw from the catcher to throw out a base stealer: The shortstop should be positioned with her left foot against the corner of the bag closest to the catcher so she can field the throw and tag back and down to the front of the base. In general, closest point to the ball and such that the runner will not come between her and the ball. Do NOT EVER have them straddle a base, even your catcher. This is going to put them in position for a collision with them on the receiving end. Of note: If the ball is not coming to them, they need to move off the base and clearly out of the runners way or they can be called for "obstruction". Let me know if you have other specific examples I didn't cover that you need help with. Go Get 'Em! Coach Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:32:07 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/jugs-instant-screen.html The Jugs Instant Screen allows a team to take batting practice virtually anywhere and any time. It's lightweight, portable and sets up in minutes. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:38:59 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/machine-pitch-tournaments.html Softball League Sponsored Machine Pitch Tournaments Provide the ULTIMATE in Fun for Youth Fastpitch Softball Players. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:04:01 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/magnetic-lineup-board.html A Magnetic Lineup Board is an essential coaching tool to give your fastpitch softball team their best chance to succeed on game day. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:44:58 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Signals-For-8U I had a question about hitting signals for 8U teams. Here is my reply: Believe it or not, 7 & 8 year olds understand signals. For this age group I really like to use the Nose as an indicator. Which means that the very next thing you do after you touch your nose is the signal. I like to use the nose and explain it to the girls that "you knows the signal is coming". I know, really poor english, but they get it. For the bunt signal I like to use the hand on the chest. Explain that when they bunt they have to turn their chest towards the pitcher. For the hit signal, I usually make two fists, one on top of the other, and hit them together (almost like you are gripping a bat). Don't get too elaborate with your signals. 8 year olds confuse easily. For example, don't give the bunt signal without giving the indicator and expect the girl not to bunt. If she sees you touch your chest, she will bunt regardless of you touching your nose or not. Also, don't run through 16 different body parts looking like you've got fleas. Keep it simple, and go through maybe 3 to 5 motions. One more signal to know. If the player doesn't understand the signal then she should put one hand on top of her helmet. This lets you know to run back through the signals. Good Luck! Coach Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:34:21 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/game-face.html A Game Face could have prevented this, "...particularly amog female pitchers who are hit by a batted ball." Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:29:19 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/softball-training.html Some practical softball training drills for every team to enhance coordination, speed, and agility. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:48:07 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Stepping-in-the-Bucket---The-Question Coach Dawn writes: I am a coach of a 10U rec and travel team. The majority of the team is 9 years old. I have been lucky enough to have 2 really good fast pitchers, and such we have always kept the team playing up higher than their age dictates. In our rec league we are in a 5th/6th grade division even though the girls are mostly 4th graders. I took the team into ASA this past fall for their first time playing 10U as mostly young 9 year olds. We did fairly well considering. We have a very strong defense. I looked over your defensive strategies and I completely agree. I utilize almost the exact same strategy as your 12U defense. We have what I would consider an average offensive game tho. I have 2 very small (under 4' tall) and quick girls that are my lead off hitters. No pitchers can get a strike into their very small strike zone. So they both always walk and are on 3rd and 2nd by the time my 2 good hitters come up and the 3 and 4 spot. But after those 4 batters we are hurting. The rest of the girls have the very bad habit of stepping backwards with the left foot when the pitch comes. I believe its due to their intimidation and lack of confidence in their hitting. When I pitch to them and they know they will not get hit they do not step out and are all capable of hitting. They are not at all intimidated playing defense with hits coming at them full speed but they continue to be intimidated at the plate. I have done drill after drill, tried idea after idea to rid them of this dreadful bad habit to no avail. I would love any and all of the ideas or drills you might have on this subject. -- Dawn Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:27:13 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Stepping-in-the-Bucket---The-Answer Coach Dawn- First, I'm proud of you for stepping up to play tournament ball. This problem is not at all uncommon for teams making the jump from league play to tournament play. There are two challenges to overcome. Confidence and now a bad habit. Any time you get a player stepping out, eliminate the step. Spread the stance out further and further until they eliminate the step or stop stepping out. We teach all of our players to NOT step. We still use the front heel as the trigger. When the pitcher releases the ball the batters heel goes up and back down, then the batter just rotates with her hips. Now for confidence, I suggest having them bunt every other at bat (especially in pool games). This will get them used to standing in the box, watching the pitch, and realizing the pitch isn't going to hit them. Also, there should be only minimal footwork when bunting so this should help break the habit. Let them hit the next at bat and watch their feet. Once they have broken the habit of stepping out you can just let them hit going forward. Good Luck! Coach Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:22:06 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/pitching.html How a Fastpitch League can be Proactive in Developing Pitching Skills Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:15:11 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/youth-softball-league.html Need Ideas to Improve Your Youth Softball League? Has your fastpitch softball enrollment fallen behind? Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:15:01 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/softball-player-contract.html A sample Fastpitch Softball Player Contract to use as a guideline for your Fastpitch Softball Tournament Team. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:31:35 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#My-1ST-Player-With-a-College-Scholarship A GIANT CONGRATULATIONS to Haley N. She is the first player to have played for me to receive a college scholarship to play softball. Haley is the only Senior on our team (the rest are younger), so she is also our first player eligible to receive a scholarship. Nobody loves playing softball more than Haley. This has been a lifelong dream to play at the college level. She's a great kid from a great family. I couldn't be any prouder for her. Way to go Haley! You earned it and you deserve it. Coach Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:08:09 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/softball-team-meeting.html The Pre-Season Kickoff Softball Team Meeting is the opportunity for the Softball team manager to set the goals, expectations and tone for the season to come. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:31:12 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/bats.html This Fastpitch Softball Bats review takes a look at the cost, the result, and the necessity of supplying your team with softball equipment that WINS games. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:35:56 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Softball-Sliding-Mat Just a quick note. Today I ran across the Schutt Slide Rite sliding mat for only $269. That is significantly cheaper than I have seen it priced in over a year. I have place a link for it on the bottom of this page: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/softball-sliding-mat.html. I think you have to copy and paste the link into your browser. I'm a big fan of the sliding mat. I know it's expensive. You will never have a better sliding practice than with this mat. AND, since you have gone to a drills based practice, you can throw the mat anywhere and make it one of the stations the players rotate to EVERY practice. Go Get 'Em! Coach Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:19:08 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Still-Christmas-Shopping?-Need-the-Killer-Idea? This is completely off topic as far as softball goes, however it is relevant to the season. I was talking with a friend who was so excited that he had bought his wife a Kindle for Christmas. Evidently she is a big reader. He was so excited and sure this was the newest, coolest gadget on the market. So, I put a link to it on my shopping page at the very bottom of the page. Just copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/shopping.html Happy Holidays! Coach Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:04:49 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Miken-Bat-Special Just a quick note, I was shopping for a new bat for my daughter and found the Miken Icon bat for $145. This is last years model, but it is a GREAT price. I believe it is only available in size 33 or 34 length. Which means it's probably only for a girl 13 or older. I put the link for it at the very bottom of this page: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/shopping.html (I think you will have to copy and paste the address into your browser. Good Luck! Coach Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:58:23 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/coach-lisa.html Coach Lisa of the Blaze gives her outlook for 8U Fall Ball. Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:02:50 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#First-Two-18U-Tournaments---Results We took the plunge these past two weekends and decided to play 18U Open tournaments. Mind you we are a team of 15 year olds and a couple of 14s. I was a little tentative but the girls were chomping at the bit to see how they measured up. The results are in. Last weekend we came in 4th place out of 20 teams. Our two losses were 4-7 and 2-5. But along the way were 5 wins. This weekend the girls played with much more confidence and were more accustomed to the 43' pitching distance. The result, 3rd place. The two losses were each by one run, 3-4 and 1-2. Along with those two losses came 4 wins, 3-1, 2-0, 7-6, and 5-2. I couldn't be prouder of the team. Lots of heart, hustle and desire. Looks like we are in 18U to stay. Coach Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:05:59 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Watch-Out-for-Caoch-Jason-and-the-Thunder.-Pg-1 Hey Coach, I still refer to your site quite often. Thanks for the great info and coaching the coaches. Every rec and summer/fall team I pick up a few new asst. coaches and I ALWAYS send them the link to your site for reference. I thought Id send another Picture of Irish; 3 years after the last one I sent you! In this picture she DID actually get the perfect game; in fact she was 5-0 on the weekend with 3 no-hitters to take the Championship home. Also sent a pic of the Roseville thunder 12u Blue team that benefitted from your coaching leadership/suggestions. 27-8 for the summer, pretty good for a first year 12U team! On Base of .525 with 184 steals in 96 innings! Just wait til next year huh! This summer I had a 1st year 12U ASA B team and was really having trouble with 2 things. First was the Statue of Liberty outfielders running across the field in pursuit of a fly ball with their glove hand fully up in the air and the other was getting the girls to pick me up in the 3rd base coaching box on their way to 2nd, not once they got there. Here is how we remedied both(Read the following Blog for the Remedy) Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:13:33 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Watch-Out-for-Caoch-Jason-and-the-Thunder.-Pg-2 Here is how we remedied both I put the girls in a line at 2nd base with their gloves on and told them to steal 3rd (no slide just run through) with stopwatch in hand. Then after I gave them all two times to get their best time I told them to do the same thing but with their glove straight up in the airany guesses Coach? Yup, .3 to .5 second slower across the board and that was in 60 feet. I then moved them out to the OF and had them do the same from CF to RF to further show how bad this was slowing them down. It was a very effective demonstration, way more than me just telling them and them thinking whatever! For the pick me up at 3rd stuff I had them do a similar drill but starting at 1B and not looking at me until right at the bag. Stopwatch in hand when they picked me up about halfway to 2nd they dropped at least a second off their times. I had my asst coach stand on 3b with ball in glove and marked off the 17 feet or so that 1 second resulted in and showed them the actual distance they can be safe (or out) by, by just looking at me 1 second sooner! They all got the point rather quickly! My base running strategy was this, and I preached it all day every day!!!...Run until a base coach stops you and unless you hear UPUPslide. Fairly simple right! The hardest part was letting them know that if I messed up and didnt stop them and they ran into an out, then that was my fault. It happened once and I made it a POINT to apologize to the team and that runner all together at the same time. Once they knew I would fall on my sword and own MY mistake, they were all about it!!! Thanks again Coach! Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:12:33 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Viewer-Mail---Coach-Jeanna Hi Coach, I think those suggestions will work perfectly tonight. Tonight is our last season game. Now on to the good stuff: We finished 2nd place in a tournament hosted by the coach of the team that got 1st place. He coaches his rec league team, and several of the girls from his rec team are on his travel team as well. So we were facing players who have seen 2-3 times more games than my girls have. The final score was 8-6, and we never had a chance for a good "lead runner" out, anyway, so we didn't lose because we didn't get the lead runner. Some highlights from this game: 10 of the 12 girls on the team hit the ball into fair territory!!! That's because we've had so much hitting practice! My girls were awesome on the field, and they went for the outs at FIRST BASE! What made me give a little tiny smile was when the other team's 3rd baseman went for the NON-EXISTENT force out at 3rd, when she should have gone to FIRST BASE! In the first inning, the girl I put in as first batter (who has great speed and I know this because of the power of the stopwatch) walked. Second batter, my own kid, laid down a bunt, got to second base and the runner on first base scored! Oh, it was beautiful. In the game before the championship game, the team's speedy pitcher got injured so we could actually compete in that game. What I loved about that game was how the other team kept going for the lead runner. Their coach has trained them this way and it just makes me smile, like when the 3rd baseman tried to get the force out at second, while the second baseman was trying to beat my runner to 2nd to take the throw. You are awesome!! Feel free to post anything from this e-mail. The last time you did, I saw it and boy did I feel famous! Thanks again, Coach Jeanna _________________________________________________ Coach Jeanna- Thanks for the props. I LOVE hearing the success stories. Coach Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:27:28 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/michael-jackson.html If you grew up in the 70's and 80's you recognize Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:17:11 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#8U-Batting-Order-Question Coach, I have been using your batting order the last 8 games and after staring 1-5 we finished up 8-0. My issues, which is a good one, is I have (3) POWER hitters. They either hit a double or a base clearing triple almost every time they are up to bat. I put my most consistent "light" hitters at 1-2. I have 5 girls that either go 3-3 or 1-3 depending on their mood. Then (2) girls that get hits but it is rare...these are girls that the whole crowd goes nuts if they even nick the ball. I have (2) of the Power hitter back to back right now which is OK but was wondering if you had any ideas on a better way to maximize my runs with the girls I have currently. The power hitters back to back are at 7-8 were there are usually always girls on base. If one of them does not clear the bases...the other usually does the job. Any assistance would be GREATLY appreciated! ________________________________________________ Coach Jeremy- Sounds like you have had a pretty good season so far, especially after the rough start. Your batting order can change from week to week depending on who gets hot and who gets cold. At 8-0 I would be hesitant to make many changes. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". However, I think you now have the main theory behind the 8U batting order. Don't bunch up all of your good hitters, mix in a little weakness to help get you further through the line up, but don't spread your hitters so much that you leave the bases loaded but never score. You might consider swapping #5 and #8 in the order to help ensure you get a run or two at the top of your order, or you might consider moving moving #9 in between your current 7 and 8 to get further through the line up. I have confidence in you. It looks like you've already learned a lot this season. You are now looking at your line up more strategically for the length of the game and not just your best hitters at the top. Hey, I know what you mean about the two girls that are lucky to get a foul tip. But isn't it fun to watch and hope, and then celebrate their success (however small it is). Good Luck! Coach ___________________________________________________ Coach, We won the league championship over the weekend. Although batting did not really matter because we only allowed 4 runs in 5 games, thanks for your assistance. Your website is a great tool for coaches. Thank you again! Coach Jeremy Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:18:29 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#ITB-Continued---Home-Team Building on the previous blog, what is the strategy if you are the Home Team? I'm glad you asked. The answer is that it depends on what happened when the Visiting team was on offense. If the Visiting team scored 0 or 1 run, then your strategy will be to bunt with your first batter to move your runner to 3rd base. This gives you the greatest chance of scoring the one run needed to win or tie. Play for the tie first then worry about getting the win. If the Visiting team scored 2 or more runs then you will need to play your offense straight up. Whether that is hitting, slapping, or bunting. Great teams win games in Extra innings. You will have the advantage. You know your players abilities, you play sensible defense, you have taught ALL of your players how to bunt and you keep a positive attitude with your players. They WILL have confidence in your coaching, they are well-coached, and as such they will have confidence in their ability. Good Luck! Coach Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:06:38 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#International-Tie-Breaker-(ITB)---Strategy A common way Softball games are decided if the game is tied at the end of regulation is the International Tie Breaker aka ITB. In ITB your player that made the last out is placed at 2nd base and the inning is played out normally. So the Question is, what should be your strategy if you are the visiting team? The answer is you must bunt her to 3rd base with your first hitter.. Get the runner to third with one out and take your chances from there. Once your runner is on 3rd she can score in so many different ways. A hit, a sacrifice fly, an illegal pitch, a passed ball, a wild pitch, an error, a squeeze play, a delayed steal. As the visiting team you MUST put the run on the board and force the home team to execute. If you fail to score guess what the Home team is going to do? That's right, bunt their runner to third. Now you're just one wild pitch from losing. The question comes up, "But what if it's my best hitter at bat?" The answer, BUNT. How to perfect your bunting game: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/bunting.html Good Luck! Coach Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:05:33 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Viewer-Mail---960-Swings! Here is an excerpt from an email I received just the other day. Soooo, this year, I signed up to be an assistant coach in a different league. The head coach quit after the first practice because she was going to have to miss half the games, so now I am head coach again. At least I get my way now, and we get to have drills and stations! And, the girls get excited when I tell them stuff like "Everybody just got 80 swings today; that's 960 swings for the team!" and the parents are very happy so far. Our first game is this coming Thursday. I haven't seen this league operate, but from what I ask the parents, they think we have a good group this year. No one has a pitching coach but my daughter and no, I can't count on her to pitch a whole game yet. I just have to figure out who can get it across the plate the most. We had a little competition yesterday to see who was fastest to 1st base. I used my stopwatch. It was great, and now I know who to put at 1 and 2 in the lineup. Thank you for your website! Coach J How can you get 960 swings in during batting practice like Coach J? http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/hitting.html Go Get 'Em! Coach Thu, 28 May 2009 02:26:34 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Didn't-Make-Through-The-Batting-Order I am still reflecting on the 8U game I watched the other night. UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!!! In the last blog I told you how his Defensive players didn't know what to do with the ball. AN INEXCUSABLE COACHING BLUNDER. So maybe they've spent all of their practice time on Hitting. Uhhhh, Evidently NOT. They didn't even make it through their lineup one complete time. The game was extended so the final few batters could bat. Then two of them STRUCK OUT. What are they doing in practice??????? Can we REVOKE his coaching license? PLEASE TELL ME ya'll are crushing teams like this. Your players should be swinging the bat at least 80-100 times EVERY PRACTICE. 90 of your players should be able to routinely HIT THE BALL. Are you having a productive batting practice? Do you still have several girls struggling to make contact? Read this: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/hitting.html Listen, it's okay to get beat. But it's NOT okay to SUCK! (Please pardon the vulgarity). If your Defense doesn't KNOW what to do with the ball, it is a COACHING issue. If your offense can't get through the lineup, it's a COACHING issue. Now that I have that off my chest, Ya'll have a GREAT 3-Day Weekend! GO GET 'EM COACH!! Coach Sat, 23 May 2009 14:18:29 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#8U-Defense---Keep-It-Simple I stopped by the local league fields last night to watch one of my players make her umpiring debut and as it turned out she was umpiring an 8U game. One of the teams playing was just awful. And I GUARANTEE that 90 of the awfulness came from the coaching. Here is the situation: A runner on 1st and the ball is hit pretty sharply to 3rd. The coach starts yelling at his 3rd baseman to throw to 2nd. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Do you even think any player moved to 2nd base to take a throw? NO. Did 3rd throw the ball to 2nd? NO. Could the player playing 2B have even caught the throw? I doubt it. She threw it back to the pitcher indicating that she really didn't have a clue what to do. WHY? Listen up, 7 & 8 year olds need to either catch the ball and step on the closest base, or throw the ball to 1st base every play. EVERY PLAY! Here is the link to my 8U defensive strategy: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/coaching-youth-softball.html IT WORKS. We went 93-4-2 as an 8U team. Don't try to re-invent the wheel. Just enjoy the ride. Good Luck! Coach Thu, 21 May 2009 00:58:42 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/emask.html A Review of the Emask Face Guard for Fastpitch Softball Batting Helmets. Thu, 14 May 2009 03:07:08 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/stopwatch.html Information is POWER and with a stopwatch as part of your softball equipment, you will be well on your way to building a winning fastpitch softball team. Tue, 12 May 2009 01:01:34 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#On-A-Personal-Note---Changing-Your-Life Earlier this year (See Blog from Jan 05) I set a goal of getting 114 people to start their very own websites. I wanted to give you an update as to how the mysoftballcoach site is doing. In March there were over 20,000 visitors to the site which generated over $1,000 in revenue. Again in April there were over 20,000 visitors which generated $815 in revenue. But HOW does it generate revenue when I don't sell anything? Ahhh, the miracle of the internet. Advertising. For me, the site is a place where I can mentor new softball coaches. To Retailers, my site is prime real estate to advertise their goods and services. I WOULD HAVE NEVER BELIEVED THIS WHEN I STARTED. Don't know what to create a website about? How about your hobby, your collections, your favorite vacation spot, your own home town, any HOW To make a whatever. The possibilities are endless. This site is just now 2 years old. How much revenue will it generate 5 years from now? A LOT. But more than the money, I can't begin to express the satisfaction I get from helping other coaches and hopefully having a positive impact on the great sport of softball. Can you begin to imagine what an awesome and humbling feeling it is knowing that 700 people each day read something I have written. Authoring this site has changed my life. Yes, my bank account is a little fatter, but more importantly I'm having a positive impact on parents and children's lives. I want YOU to have that same AWESOME feeling. It will Change Your Life. For more info go to: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/sbi-software.html Go Get 'Em!!! Coach Wed, 06 May 2009 02:18:57 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#From-the-Mailbag---Trouble-with-Batting-Power Coach, I coach a first year 12u girls fastpitch travel team in Lubbock. Our girls are having trouble getting power in their hits. Can you recommend a drill or two to increase bat speed? Thanks, ********************************************** Coach C- I doubt you have a bat speed problem. I've just never seen a girl swing and thought "man is that slow". I suspect you have a weight shift problem. The MOST COMMON problem I see is with hitters shifting their weight on top of their front foot. This absolutely eliminates ALL power. Rather than try to explain it all, I'm going to give you two links to youtube videos that are excellent and also tell you that I highly recommend Mike Candrea's hitting video. You can find a link to Candrea's hitting video here: http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-hitting-fundamentals.html The two videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2pa6Z-pzLk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdU98a3P-UQ&NR=1 What I want you to pay particular attention to is that the torso stays centered between the hitters feet. The weight is driven into the front leg, but the weight does NOT shift on TOP of the front foot. Watch your hitters carefully. If you see their upper body moving forward then you have a problem. The upper body should only twist. Good Luck! Coach Mon, 04 May 2009 01:35:47 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/coach-rich.html Coach Rich and the Dunham Rebels Prepare for his first year as a head coach. Fri, 01 May 2009 02:14:40 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/shortstop-positioning.html Situational Shortstop Positioning in Fastpitch Softball, where to be and when to get there. Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:29:45 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Viewer-Mail---8U-Batting-Order-Question Hi Coach, Love your site. Quick question. You talk about the hitting order for a 3 inning game. ALL of our 8U games last 4 innings.would this change your strategy for the line up at all? Coach Kerry Lake Travis, Texas 8U Softball Coach, 8U All Star Coach and Softball Board Member ***************************************************** Coach Kerry- Playing more than 3 innings would not change my strategy. The main idea is to maximize runs while pushing through some of the weaker hitters. If you spread your good hitters out more, then your run production goes down. If you bunch your good hitters together more, then you get longer dead spots in your line up. Of course the biggest aide to a batting order is to have more strong hitters. Amazing how much smarter you will look as a coach when you have 9 girls hitting consistently as opposed to only having 6 that can hit. Good Luck! Coach Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:50:09 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/golf-swing.html The Softball Drill that is Guaranteed to Correct the Golf Swing or Determining she Enjoys watching the coach suffer. Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:52:32 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/fastpitch-softball-blog.html#Viewer-Mail---Coach-Greg Coach, Thanks for all of the helpful information on your site. I am coaching a 10U team in SW Indiana. We will be playing a 12 game regular season plus a double elimination tournament. We've practiced 6 times to date and have 3 weeks before the official start of the season on May 4. I've been coaching for 5 years now but have played baseball my whole life. Your site has opened my eyes to some of the subtle differences between the fastpitch softball game and baseball. Several of your strategic ideas made sense to me and have me ready to make some fundamental changes in defensive assignments this year. I have observed all of the things you mention in the 10U strategy column but hadn't really thought about it the sense that I was ready to move players around. I have high expectations for our team this year. We have a great group of girls with a fine mix of talent, intelligence and experience. I am hoping for at least a 75 winning percentage. This year I have prepared for every practice by surfing sites like yours and in-deed coming up with a "drills and skills" based practice. I am very excited about the results so far. The one obstacle I have is trying to cover too much territory in one practice. I've found that it's better to stick with no more than 4 focus areas for each practice. I've also got two more daughters playing on an 8U team that I help coach. They are also set to have a strong season. They finished 2nd in their league last year only losing 2 games all year and should be right back in the finals this year. Thanks for all your help, and please know that there are a group of girls in Indiana that you have never met that you are positively having an influence on 3 times a week. Coach Greg ***Message to the other teams in Indiana - You better LOOK OUT for Coach Greg's team. He has adopted a drills based practice and he is thinking in a new light about his team. I think they are going to kick some serious booty this year! If you are not running a drills based practice, you WILL get your doors BLOWN OFF by teams like Coach Greg's. Good Luck! Coach Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:25:37 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/8u-batting-order-strategy.html The Winning 8U Batting Order Strategy for Fastpitch Softball conservatively maximizes run production without creating downside risk. Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:25:34 GMT http://www.mysoftballcoach.com/sbi-software.html Why I chose to use SBI software to build mysoftballcoach.com Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:37:43 GMT